It’s right around this time last year that I saw Hunted: The Demon’s Forge for the first time. There were a few buzz words thrown about at the presentation, but the one that stayed with me was “co-op at a… Continue Reading →

It’s right around this time last year that I saw Hunted: The Demon’s Forge for the first time. There were a few buzz words thrown about at the presentation, but the one that stayed with me was “co-op at a distance.”

At a recent event, I had chance to get more hands-on time with the game. More specifically, I played through the tutorial and a short section in the beginning. I sat across from another game journalist and we worked a level together.

What I first noticed about Hunted: The Demon’s Forge is how the credits take you through this dark-fantasy world. It reminded me of those epic overhead shops of mountain ranges in Lord of the Rings. It provided a nice setting and set the mood. The fact that Lucy Lawless (aka Xena) did some voice work also didn’t hurt.

The game itself starts off with Caddoc, the brawny warrior, having a nightmare. He’s haunted by a voice and he wakes up. E’lara, his eleven partner, offers up some playful banter. Within the first five minutes, I knew that the dialogue was essentially the same. It’s a back-and-forth you’d hear from a D&D game (I’m talking about D20 dice and paper.), and something that you’ll have to get used to.

Caddoc and E’lara at least have some personality that shines through as they wander the woods, and you learn the basics of combat. You hit the X button to attack with a melee weapon. The Y button is used for a power attack that builds up over time. Hitting LT brings up the range attack and RT fires arrows or crossbow bolts (depending on the character). In addition, there are different routes and even sidequests that perceptive players will find in the dungeon.

Eventually, the two end up drawn to a deathstone that Caddoc was supposed to touch, according to the voice in his nightmare. That disembodied entity ends up being Seraphine, a creature/demon that was trapped inside it. I wasn’t really sure if Seraphine was an ally or a foe. I’m sure that doubt intensifies throughout the campaign, but she does give the two warriors the use of magic and their first quest. Seraphine asks the pair to help the corpulent Lord Mayor of Dyfed. The demoness claims to have a connection to him.

On a fundamental level, Hunted: The Demon’s Forge plays like a regular hack-and-slasher. The environments are darker. The visuals can sometimes be gorgeous. But most of the time, you’ll button-mash skeletons and humanoid creatures to death. The game’s depth comes in tactics and combining magic between the two. For example, E’lara can shoot ice arrows that freeze foes and Caddoc can then shatter them with his weapons or power moves. When it comes nonmagic fighting, Caddoc can act as the tank while E’lara takes out enemies from behind him.

Destroying enemies leaves players with weapons, armor and shields, all of which wear down over time. More importantly, the pair also get crystals that upgrade their magic and weapons through a skill tree. What’s great about this is that once you find a crystal, it counts toward both characters abilities. This makes the leveling balanced. You won’t be using all your crystals on E’lara and ignoring Caddoc or vice versa. They’ll evolve at the same speed.

When they’re not fighting, E’lara and Caddoc are using their distinctive skills to solve puzzles. Caddoc’s strength is vital in toppling pillars or moving hidden walls. Meanwhile, E’lara can grab flames from braziers and shoot them at empty ones opening doors and such.

There’s a lot of this simple puzzle-solving in the first dungeon. We also came across a sidequest where my partner and I had to find four glyphs to unlock a treasure. Although it may not seem to be worth your time, you should do these missions because they offer power-ups that are dispensible in later boss fights.

When it came to the whole “co-op at a distance” concept, I didn’t feel tied down by my partner. We could both separate and freely wander. When it comes to combat, we can take opposing sides of a level and use flanking maneuvers. If one of us got hurt, the other had the ability to toss out a potion and heal our fellow adventurer from a good enough distance.

The one issue I had was that somtimes we got lost — the dungeons are fairly big — and trying to locate each other was a chore. Maybe the game could use an item or ability to easily warp to your buddy or better yet create a button to quickly point you in his or her direction. I mean, InXile thought of everything else. You can switch characters at way points so that you can play both melee-heavy Caddoc and E’lara who specializes in ranged combat. You have different endings based on whether you use a power-boosting substance called sleg. The team listend to fans and created splitscreen mode. There’s even a mode where players can create their own dungeons but inXile didn’t get into that much at the event. (That’s where coins will be spent.)

Overall, it looks like Hunted: The Demon’s Forge holds promise for those looking for a new wrinkle to the hack-and-slash fantasy game. Players eager to get their hands will have to wait for its scheduled June release.